This invention relates generally to spacecraft and, in particular, to those spacecraft employing thermal radiator panels for removing heat from the spacecraft.
It is known in the art to provide thermal radiators that are deployed off of the East/West sides of a spacecraft. Such panels are useful in removing heat from the spacecraft and radiating the heat into space. However, this conventional approach has a number of disadvantages. For example, the deployed radiation panels are not optimally positioned with respect to North/South mounted radiator panels. Further by example, the deployable radiator panels may have dimensional restrictions caused by field of view (FOV) requirements of East/West antenna reflectors and/or other spacecraft structures.
It is thus a first object and advantage of this invention to provide at least one thermal radiator panel that is deployable at the aft end of a spacecraft along, or at an angle to, a longitudinal or Z-axis of the spacecraft.
It is a further object and advantage of this invention to provide a plurality of aft-mounted thermal radiator panels that are canted when deployed with respect to a transverse edge of a spacecraft bus, thereby minimizing plume impingement from a centrally located thruster and also minimizing a chance of collision with other spacecraft structures, such as deployed solar array panels.
The foregoing and other problems are overcome and the objects of the invention are realized by methods and apparatus in accordance with embodiments of this invention.
In accordance with this invention a spacecraft comprises at least one thermal radiator panel that is moveable from a stowed position to a deployed position, said deployed position being off of an aft end of the spacecraft.
Further in accordance with this invention a spacecraft comprises at least one thermal radiator panel that is moveable from a stowed position to a deployed position, said deployed position being off of an aft end of the spacecraft, wherein in said deployed position a longitudinal axis of said panel forms a non-zero angle with a longitudinal axis (taken to be the Z-axis) of said spacecraft.
Further in accordance with this invention a spacecraft comprises at least one thermal radiator panel that is moveable from a stowed position to a deployed position, said deployed position being off of an aft end of the spacecraft, wherein in said deployed position a longitudinal axis of said panel intersects a Z-axis of said spacecraft.
Further in accordance with this invention a spacecraft comprises at least one thermal radiator panel that is moveable from a stowed position to a deployed position, said deployed position being off of an aft end of the spacecraft, wherein in said deployed position a transverse edge of said panel is non-parallel to a transverse aft edge of said spacecraft.
In a presently preferred embodiment of this invention a spacecraft includes at least four thermal radiator panels arranged as pairs of thermal radiator panels. A first pair of the panels is initially stowed along a North facing surface of the spacecraft and a second pair of the panels is initially stowed along a South facing surface of the spacecraft. Each of the at least four panels is coupled to a hinge mechanism at an anti-Earth facing end of the spacecraft and is rotatable by the hinge mechanism from a stowed position to a deployed position. The deployed position is a position that is off of the anti-Earth facing end of the spacecraft.
In the presently preferred embodiment of this invention, when in the deployed position a longitudinal axis of each of the at least four panels forms a non-zero angle with an Earth pointing axis of said spacecraft.